1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automatic disk changer which picks up a desired one among a plurality of optical disks or magnet-optical disks such as compact disks (CDs) and mini-disks (MDs) which are arranged at predetermined intervals (hereinafter referred to merely as "disks", when applicable) so that data are recorded thereon or reproduced therefrom or erased therefrom.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of an automatic disk changer of this type has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Sho. 61-156563. The automatic disk changer comprises a casing in which a disk arranging stand is provided on which a number of disks are arranged at predetermined intervals, and a carriage which is reciprocated along the disk arranging stand. The carriage has: a disk lifting mechanism which is adapted to slightly lift a specified disk among the disks arranged on the disk arranging stand; a loading mechanism which rolls the disk thus lifted to place it on the carriage; and a disk mounting mechanism which mounts the disk thus placed on a player body provided on the carriage.
The above-described automatic disk changer is disadvantageous in the following point: As was described above, the disk is delivered from the disk arranging stand to the disk mounting mechanism by means of the disk lifting mechanism and the loading mechanism; however, the disk delivering operation is carried out even if the specified disk is not present on the disk arranging stand, resulting in the occurrence of loss time.